Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a lovely summer and managed to soak up some sunshine. Once again, I’ve taken an unplanned break from blogging — after 15+ years of writing online, it seems to be part of my rhythm. No matter how often I step away, I always find myself coming back to it. Blogging remains one of my most cherished hobbies, and it continues to bring me so much joy.
Today, I’m back with a few book reviews. Unfortunately, August was a bit of a lackluster reading month (no books rated above 3 stars!), but I’m happy to be getting back into the swing of things.
You can follow me on Goodreads here.
In a Dark Dark Wood
When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.
I always say the best way to get into reading (or in my case, get back into reading!) is to pick up a good thriller. In a Dark Dark Wood has been on my TBR pile for a while and I’m glad I finally got round to it. It was slightly predictable but still enjoyable – I was hooked straight away! However, I did feel it dragged toward the middle and I found myself getting impatient – the pacing was so slow. I also felt the main character fell a bit flat and I didn’t care all that much what happened to her. Still, overall I found it an entertaining read and I genuinely struggled to put it down.
It Ends With Us
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
I went into It Ends With Us a bit skeptical—mainly because I’ve never really clicked with Colleen Hoover’s books before. Unfortunately, this one didn’t do much to win me over. The pacing was slow and I very nearly gave up. The sex scenes didn’t help – I found them so cheesy! I also didn’t care much for any of the characters.
With that being said, I’m glad I stuck with it. I enjoyed where the story went and appreciated how it explored some pretty heavy topics. While Colleen Hoover still isn’t quite my cup of tea – I can understand why It Ends With Us had such a powerful impact on so many readers.
Think Again
Being an adult isn’t quite what Ellie Allard dreamed it would be when she was fourteen years old. Though she’s got her beautiful daughter Lottie, life-long best friends in Magda and Nadine and her trusty cat Stella, her love life is non-existent and she feels like she’s been living on auto-pilot, just grateful to be able to afford the rent on her pokey little flat. But this year on her birthday, the universe seems to decide it’s time to for all that to change – whether Ellie wants it to or not. As she navigates new, exciting and often choppy waters, she’s about to discover that life will never stop surprising you – if only you let it.
I picked up Think Again out of nostalgia. I loved Jacqueline Wilson in the early 00’s! While it was definitely an easy read and I got into the story quickly, it felt very juvenile overall. That’s not always a dealbreaker, but in this case, it made the plot feel predictable, far-fetched and a bit twee.
Some of the smaller plot lines (like Ellie’s stalker situation) felt pointless – stories would start, then just fizzle out without adding anything to the narrative. I also felt Magda and Nadine were underdeveloped – I’d loved their characters in the rest of the Girls series, but in this they seemed like afterthoughts.
That said, Jacqueline Wilson did do a brilliant job with Mr. Windsor. He was infuriating – even I got the ick!
A pleasant enough read, but ultimately forgettable.
How to Solve Your Own Murder
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered, like she always said she would be.
In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?
As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.
How to Solve Your Own Murder had a promising premise, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The story features a dual timeline and a large cast of characters, which made things a bit confusing at times — I often found myself struggling to keep track of who was who.
The writing is easy and straightforward, making it a quick read, but as someone who’s not usually into YA, it felt a bit cliché and cheesy at times. I also didn’t connect with any of the characters, which made it hard to get fully invested.
It took me a while to get into the story, but the second half was much stronger and kept me interested (I also enjoyed the passages from Frances’s diary). Unfortunately, it lost some momentum again toward the end.
If you liked A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, you might appreciate this one. Overall, a decent read but not one that stayed with me after I finished.
What have you been reading lately? x
Leave a Reply